Collection 2521 - Madison County School District 11 Records, 1871-1915

Creator: Madison County School District 11 (Madison County, Mont.)

Provenance Note: Minutes and registers from the Pony schools of Madison County School District 11 were donated by Mrs. James A. Flint of Pony, Montana on July 27, 1966. These materials were originally accessioned as part of Collection 441, the Morris State Bank Records, and were separated for processing in 2009.

Historical Note: The origins of the town of Pony, Montana are unclear, but it seems reasonably certain that a camp was established close to the present town site as early as 1868. The nature of the area's quartz gold deposits required more investment in machinery and equipment than individuals could muster, and as the years passed the population ebbed and flowed in direct response to local mine development by outside capital. Miners who came with families naturally wanted educational opportunities for their children and by 1871 Madison County School District 11 had been established to oversee school matters in Pony. The first school board members were Z. M. Allen, David Young, and William P. Gay. The board's deliberations in the early 1870s concerned the location of a permanent school house and several locations as far away as the present day town of Harrison were considered. By 1902 Pony's population seemed steady enough to justify the construction of a large, two-storey brick schoolhouse for both the elementary and high school students, but just two years later mining activity in the area began a steady decline that never rebounded. In 1943 the Pony High School closed and students were sent to Harrison thereafter. The elementary school at Pony closed in 1955. The Harrison School District 23 absorbed the former area encompassing District 11 probably at the same time.

Content Description Note: The Madison County School District 11 records consist of a volume of minutes from the school board that includes a number of different census results to determine the number of eligible children in the district, along with some financial data from 1871 to 1915. A single ledger volume records school expenses authorized by the board from 1886 to 1897, and three additional registers list students by name, along with their "attendance and punctuality" records for the school terms between 1901 and 1903. There are no student grades in these attendance registers. A single folder of documents found within the registers completes this collection.